Review AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 review: An excellent value, if supply is good

[Admin]

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT looks set to deliver highly competitive mainstream performance at a great price — perhaps too great. We'll need to see what retail availability looks like, but the performance in rasterization, ray tracing, and AI workloads has improved a lot, closing the gap between AMD and Nvidia GPUs.

AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 review: An excellent value, if supply is good : Read more

 

[Crazyy8]

I don't have much money, but I might have just enough for the 9070 XT. I might finally be able to say I have high end hardware!
Look forward to release, hope it isn't scalped!

 

[cknobman]

I'll be online super early to try and snag a $599 9070xt.
Count me in the market share shift over to AMD.

 

[Gururu]

Very nice review although the setting feels like a time warp to Dec 2022.

 

[palladin9479]

Now it's all down to availability and how much product AMD can pump into the channel. Anyone trying to buy a dGPU is left with almost no real options other then to pay ridiculous markups to scant supply. If AMD can pump enough product into the channel, then those prices will go down cause well, that's how the supply vs demand curve works.

 

[Elusive Ruse]

Thank you for the detailed review and analysis as always @JarredWaltonGPU I’m glad that we finally have a proper offering at the midrange. AMD dealt a powerful blow to Nvidia, maybe a bit late but better than never.
The ball is now in Nvidia’s court, let’s see how much they care about the gaming market, I also believe this is a matter of brand image as well; losing to AMD even if it’s not at the high end still hurts.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

Very nice review although the setting feels like a time warp to Dec 2022.

Seriously! Well, more like late 2020 or early 2021. Everything is basically sold out right now (though 5070 has a few $599 to $699 models actually in stock right this second at Newegg).

 

[Colif]

They are nice cards but I will follow my own advice and not buy a card this generation and see what next brings. Xt beats mine in some games but not all, and since I don't play RT games anyway, I don't think its worth it
I am saving for a new PC so it wouldn't make sense to buy one now anyway. Maybe next gen I get one that is same color as new PC will be...

 

[SonoraTechnical]

Saw this about the Powercolor Reaper in the article:

PowerColor takes the traditional approach of including three DisplayPort 2.1a ports and a single HDMI 2.1b port. However, the specifications note that only two simultaneous DP2.1 connections can be active at the same time. Also, these are UHBR13.5 (54 Gbps) ports, rather than the full 80 Gbps maximum that DisplayPort 2.1a allows for.

So, 3 monitors using display port for FS2024 is a non-starter? Have to mix technologies (DP and HDMI?) Is this going to be true for most RX 9070 XT cards?

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

I watched the HUB review, since it came out first. The short of it: 9070XT = 7900XT (not XTX), both in perf and power consumption. So if you think Nvidia (Huang) lied about 5070's perf, then AMD also lied.

Not by my numbers. AMD said the 9070 XT would be about 10% slower than the 7900 XTX in rasterization and 10% faster in ray tracing. Even if that were accurate, it would still make the 9070 XT faster than the 7900 XT.

 

[Colif]

The low stock and things being OOS the same day they released reminds me of the 7900 release day. I was too slow to get an XTX but I was happy with an XT.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

Saw this about the Powercolor Reaper in the article:

PowerColor takes the traditional approach of including three DisplayPort 2.1a ports and a single HDMI 2.1b port. However, the specifications note that only two simultaneous DP2.1 connections can be active at the same time. Also, these are UHBR13.5 (54 Gbps) ports, rather than the full 80 Gbps maximum that DisplayPort 2.1a allows for.

So, 3 monitors using display port for FS2024 is a non-starter? Have to mix technologies (DP and HDMI?) Is this going to be true for most RX 9070 XT cards?

Yeah, I don't know... I haven't seen that posted elsewhere and it seemed like a weird limitation. What's not clear is whether it means only two DP connections total, or if it means explicitly two DP connections that are in DP2.1 mode. I suspect it's the latter.

So you could probably do 3x1440p 144Hz displays just fine, because those are only running at DP1.4a bandwidths. You could probably also do 3x4K 240 Hz displays with DSC active. But if you three actual DP2.1 monitors then it would maybe have issues.

I will reach out to AMD and try to get clarification.

 

[Bikki]

yay my future card!

 

[DS426]

Thank you for another great GPU review, @JarredWaltonGPU. Indeed, we all can only hope that supply is pretty strong. Generally speaking, AMD and nVidia need to get a LOT more GPUs into the supply stream to get prices back in check.

RDNA2, surprisingly (recall the improvement over RDNA1, e.g. 5700 XT), still had a strong supply well into RDNA3's production, including as late as the 7600 (XT)'s arrival and maybe even the 7900 GRE.

 

[cknobman]

I watched the HUB review, since it came out first. The short of it: 9070XT = 7900XT (not XTX), both in perf and power consumption. So if you think Nvidia (Huang) lied about 5070's perf, then AMD also lied.

People are still clueless about marketing. It doesn't lie. It stretches the truth (exaggerates). That's its job. Every company does it. If you're worked up over it, and think that one side lies and the other doesn't, you've been suckered.

About pricing: Now we see the real reason for XT's $600 pricing, a climb down from the anticipated $650-700. XT is not as fast as Ti, and uses more power. A $50 price diff wouldn't have mattered, so XT got a haircut and diff is now $150, which theoretically allows XT to win on bang/buck, since it can't win on the bang.

The price drop wasn't about AMD being nice to gamers. It's just competitive positioning. If you think one company cares about you and the other doesn't, that's just another lie. But this time, it's you lying to yourself.

I say "XT theoretically wins," because dollars to donuts MSRP parts will be instantly OOS just like 5070 is. If you think the 2-month "stockpile" can overcome scalpers, I envy you your optimism.

Yes, the conventional wisdom is to wait for prices to "settle" and inventory to "catch up." People have short memory, and they forgot how it was during the crypto boom. Inventory won't catch up. The clue is that all the alternatives, previous gen parts, are also OOS or marked up to heaven. Demand will rise as we get into the holiday seasons, when people traditionally buy electronics. Your best chance is to do what scalpers do and use a buy bot, because it won't get better.

This is not accurate.
The 9070 xt is closer to the 7900xtx in performance than the 7900xt.
The 9070 is faster than the 5070.

Nvidia, without price adjustments, is no longer competitive in this market segment, IMO.

 

[DS426]

Yeah, I don't know... I haven't seen that posted elsewhere and it seemed like a weird limitation. What's not clear is whether it means only two DP connections total, or if it means explicitly two DP connections that are in DP2.1 mode. I suspect it's the latter.

So you could probably do 3x1440p 144Hz displays just fine, because those are only running at DP1.4a bandwidths. You could probably also do 3x4K 240 Hz displays with DSC active. But if you three actual DP2.1 monitors then it would maybe have issues.

I will reach out to AMD and try to get clarification.

I also suspect three simultaneous DP connections are allowed, it's just a limitation to two in DP2.1 mode. DP2.1 monitors can still negotiate down, so three would probably all run in DP1.4 mode if that's how the GPU configure those ports.

Is that really a limitation for anyone given that this isn't a high-end card? If this was a workstation/professional class card, yeah, this would be a big issue.

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

I also suspect three simultaneous DP connections are allowed, it's just a limitation to two in DP2.1 mode. DP2.1 monitors can still negotiate down, so three would probably all run in DP1.4 mode if that's how the GPU configure those ports.

Is that really a limitation for anyone given that this isn't a high-end card? If this was a workstation/professional class card, yeah, this would be a big issue.

I don’t even think it’s a big deal for professional use. I’ve been running DP1.4a at 4K 240Hz with DSC for over two years and never notice any issues. I now have a DP2.1 display that can do 4K 240Hz without DSC (I think… maybe only 180 Hz without DSC?) and don’t see a difference.

DSC’s “visually lossless” compression does work well in practice.

 

[DS426]

I watched the HUB review, since it came out first. The short of it: 9070XT = 7900XT (not XTX), both in perf and power consumption. So if you think Nvidia (Huang) lied about 5070's perf, then AMD also lied.

...

Ok, actually, you have to break perf between raster and RT as the 9070 XT is faster than the 7900 XTX in *EDIT* RT (*not raster as I previously misstyped*) That's pretty huge, and that's what AMD was promoting in their marketing (that RT perf was significantly better relative to raster and last gen).

Power consumption is the trade-off for getting this pricing as obviously much higher clocks were used on RDNA4. The alternative is using a bigger die at lower clocks to achieve better efficiency, but this comes at higher production cost.

That said, yes, folks need to quit lying to ourselves and take 1st party numbers and marketing with deep skepticism. Still, I felt like AMD was more honest this time around than with their RDNA3 launch.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I watched the HUB review, since it came out first. The short of it: 9070XT = 7900XT (not XTX), both in perf and power consumption. So if you think Nvidia (Huang) lied about 5070's perf, then AMD also lied.

People are still clueless about marketing. It doesn't lie. It stretches the truth (exaggerates). That's its job. Every company does it. If you're worked up over it, and think that one side lies and the other doesn't, you've been suckered.

About pricing: Now we see the real reason for XT's $600 pricing, a climb down from the anticipated $650-700. XT is not as fast as Ti, and uses more power. A $50 price diff wouldn't have mattered, so XT got a haircut and diff is now $150, which theoretically allows XT to win on bang/buck, since it can't win on the bang.

The price drop wasn't about AMD being nice to gamers. It's just competitive positioning. If you think one company cares about you and the other doesn't, that's just another lie. But this time, it's you lying to yourself.

I say "XT theoretically wins," because dollars to donuts MSRP parts will be instantly OOS just like 5070 is. If you think the 2-month "stockpile" can overcome scalpers, I envy you your optimism.

Yes, the conventional wisdom is to wait for prices to "settle" and inventory to "catch up." People have short memory, and they forgot how it was during the crypto boom. Inventory won't catch up. The clue is that all the alternatives, previous gen parts, are also OOS or marked up to heaven. Demand will rise as we get into the holiday seasons, when people traditionally buy electronics. Your best chance is to do what scalpers do and use a buy bot, because it won't get better.

Thanks for the lesson! Anything positive to say about.....well, anything?

 

[stuff and nonesense]

These look good. Decent performance uplift to above the 7900xt, approaching the 7900xtx. RT, from the gamut of reviews is markedly improved matching in many cases the 3090. The price seems acceptable, at least the rrp is acceptable, hopefully the scalpers intentions will be stifled by supply.

The difference between the 7900xt and the 9070xt doesn’t warrant an upgrade. Perhaps the next generation will be compelling.

 

[-Fran-]

Thanks a lot for the great data, Jarred.

They're now in the open with their performance and it looks fine to me. They landed where most people were expecting them to, so that's good; at least, no surprises (good or bad) for me.

This being said, I'm watching the FSR4 comparisons and looks like AMD has been cooking the right way there. I hope they can offer FSR4 to previous gens as well. So, out of this, the RT uplift, seeming compute uplift and FSR4 quality improvements, make this a great card for the MSRP. And on that note, I'm also happy I see plenty 9070XT models at £570 in UK retailers. Let's see how this plays out in the upcoming month, but looks somewhat positive.

Regards.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I'm defo impressed by this release. It's pretty much exactly what AMD said it would be. Not quite as strong as the 5070 Ti, but beating out the 5070 is impressive nonetheless. The RT performance is excellent even if a little behind nVIdia in some cases. The fact that RT is close, and better in some games is great, and about time.

I can see these cards being in high demand, and it will be interesting to see if there's enough stock to get going. I have heard that third party vendors have been stocking cards going back to Dec, so hopefully that bodes well for stock at release.

Good job AMD.

 

[gg83]

Jarred! Thanks for all you hard work! Great documentation. I have a 7800xt, the 9070xt almost doubles it. I might upgrade if there's a new game I can play that isn't Destiny 2. It's been very hard playing anything else, especially since Revenant act 1 is killing it.

 

[alceryes]

Some are reporting that AMD is giving a $50 incentive rebate to retailers to sell the 9070 XT at MSRP.

This is great news! Hopefully it entices retailers to just grab the guaranteed $50 than chase a $70+ markup and have cards potentially sit on shelves longer.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

I watched the HUB review, since it came out first. The short of it: 9070XT = 7900XT (not XTX), both in perf and power consumption. So if you think Nvidia (Huang) lied about 5070's perf, then AMD also lied.

People are still clueless about marketing. It doesn't lie. It stretches the truth (exaggerates). That's its job. Every company does it. If you're worked up over it, and think that one side lies and the other doesn't, you've been suckered.

About pricing: Now we see the real reason for XT's $600 pricing, a climb down from the anticipated $650-700. XT is not as fast as Ti, and uses more power. A $50 price diff wouldn't have mattered, so XT got a haircut and diff is now $150, which theoretically allows XT to win on bang/buck, since it can't win on the bang.

The price drop wasn't about AMD being nice to gamers. It's just competitive positioning. If you think one company cares about you and the other doesn't, that's just another lie. But this time, it's you lying to yourself.

I say "XT theoretically wins," because dollars to donuts MSRP parts will be instantly OOS just like 5070 is. If you think the 2-month "stockpile" can overcome scalpers, I envy you your optimism.

Yes, the conventional wisdom is to wait for prices to "settle" and inventory to "catch up." People have short memory, and they forgot how it was during the crypto boom. Inventory won't catch up. The clue is that all the alternatives, previous gen parts, are also OOS or marked up to heaven. Demand will rise as we get into the holiday seasons, when people traditionally buy electronics. Your best chance is to do what scalpers do and use a buy bot, because it won't get better.

Just watched the HUB review, they found data similar to the other reviewers however damning with faint praise comes to mind….. one example, 2 frames behind the 7900xtx was described as only just faster than the 7900xt…. Could have been described as close to the xtx.
The card was compared to the GRE on the publicity slides, make it look good.

One thing to remember, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Depending on your test suite and your words you can get any result you want and push any agenda you wish.